Mike Tomlin on new faces but same mindset, why Aaron Rodgers & love affair with football| The Pivot

Mike Tomlin on new faces but same mindset, why Aaron Rodgers & love affair with football| The Pivot

How Jordan doing, man? Good. He’s doing well, coach. Tell the dude I said what’s up. I will, man. Man, it was so He’ll appreciate that. It was so funny to do that night before the pro day dinner with him. I I felt bad cuz I was I ain’t get other kids enough time. Me and him was just, you know, reminiscing. He said that he was sitting next to the other players and they were like, “Hey, man, that’s Mike T.” And he was like, “Shit.” It’s like my uncle, dude. Hey, what you doing, bro? real though like seeing him around here running around and then now he it’s surreal man like any other guys any other players in a league that been around here JPJ well yeah they got out there yeah like like I remember AB brought Shiloh here one day Shiloh Dion’s boy was probably about 16 17 and JJ and all them was lined up going after him you know what I mean and just funny just the small football world, man. It is, coach. Well, coach, thank you honestly for always taking care of us, man. It’s uh I I said I said it to you on the field. I didn’t care if you didn’t have no good players. We coming to Pittsburgh just to spend time with you, man. Just to show people and get opportunity for them to know you in some of the intimate ways that we do. So, we just really appreciate you. You guys will always have my support, man. I mean that. Like, I just I just love it. It’s organic, man. Y’all have too much fun to be working. You know what I mean? You know how it is, man. You can sense what people that work together genuinely care about each other and enjoy each other’s company. Man, that’s that’s why y’all so successful. Yeah. You you feel it. You are like the picture of stability in this sense in the longevity that you’ve had as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but also in your consistency as a person. And that used to sort of mirror the organization and the way y’all did business. This was the most unlike Steeler off season that I’ve ever seen, I’ve ever been a part of. When you add the Aaron Rogers and the DK Metavves and the Jaylen Ramsay, these players who have already been established, but now you add them to this team. What sort of I guess challenges and coaching challenges does that present? Because I know you love those things. We went out and acquired some guys that are leaders and um they’re capable leaders. Certainly they got NFL experience and NFL experience at a high level, but I got to have an intimate relationship with the leadership. And so although they’re not new to this game and they’re new to Pittsburgh and so man, it just it’s a challenge from a coaching perspective in terms of selling our values, uh, how we build and and engineer victory, um, how we go about our day-to-day business, like like I got to do a really good job of communicating. And a component of communicating is listening. Particularly when you’re dealing with grown men, man, and grown men that are dynamic players and capable leaders. It’s always been fun for me, man. I think a destination camp kind of helps that. You know, I catch them in the evening in informal time and we sit down, we might chop up football, we might chop up life, right? There’s no shortcut to what I’m trying to get done with them in a very, you know, quick manner, if you will, because like I said, man, I just I want to support their leadership. I want to enhance their leadership and and I want them to feel comfortable and comfortable doing so. And so, man, we got to work at it. You brought in uh former champ well champions. Obviously, some guys have won Super Bowls, Pro Bowlers. With the way you’ve built the roster this past off season, what’s the message behind that? Is it championship or bust or is that always the message? No, that can’t be the message because it is always the message. You know, you you know, man, there’s a winner trait in sport and when you’ve been a part of it, man, it changes you forever. And as many as many guys as you can have with that experience, man, I just think I think it positions you to push through adversity that we all know is coming. Not even the old guys, man. We got two rookies and Will Howard and Jack Sawyer that were captains of a national championship team at Ohio State, right? Like that winner trait is worth his weight in gold, man. You carry it with you forever. You feel it in their presence. And so, no question that’s something that that was really in the front of my mind in terms of kind of putting this group together. Coach, when you pick up guys, like you saying, Pro Bowlers like that, do you celebrate or you just get to work? like we got DK. Okay, now he can go to the X. Oh, you be like, “God damn, we got DK.” Hey, it it’s a little bit of both and a little bit of both continually. You know what I mean? Like the other day he went by me on the sideline. I was like, DK play for us. You know what I mean? and and it there are those moments like continually like when he when he does something that you know like woo man you know it’s fun um but certainly um it requires some work and some and some strategy man these are dynamic guys and it’s my job man to put them in position to be successful and their talents to show Jaylen Ramsey is an example of that man I’ve been blown away by his versatility man his football intellect like you cannot you cannot put this kind of position that he’s not on the details. And you know how sometimes, man, communication tells you everything, man. We’re in our first walk through and and he’s moving from free safety to nickel to outside corner. And this communication is not lacking in any way as his formations adjust and playing a variety of positions in one walk through. And it just kind of speaks to how talented he is. We know his physical talent, but this guy’s football intellect is on the ceiling. Coach, you know, when you build a team, you start to build the teams to play against the best teams that you have to face, the teams you compete with to win championships. You know, in basketball, people started building teams to beat the Golden State Warriors, right? How do we match up against them? Even in your own division, you have a team like the Cincinnati Bengals who can just flat out throw it all around the yard if you don’t have people that can cover them. You have Joey Porter Jr. who’s a one. You bring in Darius Slay who’s been a one throughout his career. Jaylen Ramsey still one of the best corners in all of football. Was there a focus in saying we need to make sure we can cover guys this year? And what was your thought in bringing all them together? You hit it on the head. You know, manto man, we got to be able to do that. We got to be able to match up on people and and with that collection of guys that you mentioned, I feel like we can do it against anybody. Uh, no disrespect to Cincinnati or anybody else that has an elite group, but that’s just a level of confidence that we have in that collective coupled with the fact that we got big-time talent up front and we got a lot invested in it in terms of our rush. Your ability to to cover people manto man does nothing but help your rush. You know, we can’t be good on defense. We got to be great on defense. And being able to match up and play manto man is a major component of that in today’s game. Coach, what do you say to people that are arguing the point that even though Mike Tomlin hasn’t had a losing season, team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016? I say nothing. You know, we got resumes. We all do. And uh we got to stand on that. I live a life, man, where I don’t seek comfort. I don’t make excuses. You know, engaging in that discussion to me is is is excuses. Is I don’t live that life, man. Like I pour everything I got into what I do, man. And when the dust settles, it settles and I keep it moving. And so, you know, I don’t care a whole lot about what people have to say. I do. Um I don’t like respectfully. I don’t Some people, you know, some people talk, some people watch, some people do. I’m glad I’m a doer. I’m glad I live in that world. Um I love the kitchen. Um I love competition. I love it when it’s hot. I love the challenges that our business presents. Like that’s just the life I choose to live and I understand the things that come with it, man. Uh and I’m okay with it. Coach, going back to Jaylen real quick, I know the old steal away. Trust me, I played against you many times. I know the that comes from this one. Jaylen and uh Calvin Austin, the camp scuffle. Was you back there snickering? Like, did you have a little devilishly smile on your face? Cuz Jaylen come with some I was laughing because Jaylen was laughing at Calvin, you know, and I’m like, Jaylen, man, don’t laugh at that little human man. He mean it, man. Like, like, you really pissed him off. He trying to squabble with you and you laughing. But you got to love when veterans come, they trying to get the best out of these guys, right? You know how it is, man. In in team development, man, it’s going to be brother against brother. Yeah. Like, it’s a it’s a component of it. We got to compete. We got to compete our ass off, man. But we got to do it with an understanding. And sometimes, man, winning and losing, man, people come, you know, people do what comes natural. And so I view it all as an opportunity to to teach and to learn. And and I see it as part of the process. But sometimes it’s funny. Hey, when we saw DK, I was like, we going to jump him. We had that fight oneonone in their zone. We like, hey, don’t let RC fool y’all, man. They ain’t fight fair a whole lot. Like if you was fighting anybody in their group, you was fighting a group. Y’all were jumping people out. Hell yeah. That’s why we ain’t going to have too many fights. Hey. Hey. Ain’t no one-on ones. No. No square ones. No square ones at all. At all. And coach, with your with your style, they call it old school, the longest tenure head coach and all that stuff. And you are very physical team. And a lot of teams got they more get more graceful, spreading out and all that stuff. And you sticking to your guns. And now you looking around the league, coach, with the Eagles, the Lion, they coming back down to what you’ve been doing for 20 years. But have you ever thought like, have you ever said, you know what, we might need to put some more receivers out here. No, no, no, never mind. You know, it’s funny like I hate the fact that I’m so old that I can see cycles, but I see it. Yeah. It’s a cool thing to see things come back around. You know, quarters is back in a big way. You know what I mean? like just schematic concepts like everything kind of moves in cycles, man. And and it’s a blessing, man, when you’ve been at it so long that you can feel that. And I feel that in a lot of ways, man. But certain hills I’m going to be willing to die on. I’m going to be light on my feet. You have to be, man. You got to be open to change and doing things differently, man, if you going to do something at at a high level for a long time. But it’s also some things that’s got to be non-negotiable. And for me, the construction of physicality, man, is non-negotiable. Man, I’m doing these dudes a disservice if I don’t create an environment where they show that component of their game or develop that component of their game or prepare them for what I know is waiting for them in stadiums. Like, I’m not in the hope business. I I hate hoping. And I think sometimes when you don’t prepare them, you you hoping for performance, man. And and and I got to lay my head down at night. Coach, you you you mentioned certain heels you’re willing to die on. We saw you walking down that hill right there and we got at you a little bit. Hey. Hey, man. Hey, man. Hey. I’m 50 plus years old, man. I got my comfortable uh hocas on. Like, like y’all come back 10 years from now, I’m going to have like some white mall shoes on. But that’s exactly the thing, though. Like, you say you’re willing to die on certain heels. And I take that. You keep coming back. You ain’t even old, man. And like most coaches started out at this age, right? But you keep coming back. Why you keep coming back every year? New camp, new new you, new fresh, new everything, man. I ain’t going to kid you. I got a love affair with this game. Like it it’s it’s a real personal thing for me. Um I just love football. I love every component of it, every component of the journey, man. I’m excited uh every year because of that, man. I just learned so much in this game. And like a lot of guys, I’m sure y’all feel the same way. Like when I was young, man, football was the only thing that was black and white, man. Like life choices was was was gray. Like like football made sense. Like I learned discipline in a lot of things through my experiences in football, man. So I mean that when I say it, man. I got a love affair with this game, man. You know, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Coach, you mentioned on the field, uh, Chan brought up how much the younger coaches have an affinity for you, how highly they speak of you, the the respect that they show you. And it seems like that’s a respect given because there’s a mutual level of kindness and there’s a mutual level of conversation and giving that you share with those dudes. That’s not always the case. You know, I remember walking in the DB rooms and having older safeties that would make fun of me because I was smart or that wouldn’t help me with certain things. And when I got older, I said, “Hey, Troy, you know, one night I’ll take the young boys. The next night you take the young boys after practice so we can teach them different things.” You seem to really reach out and be a part of helping young coaches continue to develop, continue to mature. Why is that something that seems important to you in that way? You know, for me it’s about helping them, but it’s also just giving back to the game. It’s the right thing to do. I think like these head jobs, man, they lonely jobs. It’s certainly my job to beat them, but I think extending a a welcoming hand or or chopping it up with them formally, informally, um doesn’t lessen that in any way, man. Um it just feels like the right thing to do. I’ve been where they are. I know what that feels like. And so, like, it’s just something over the years, man. I just felt moved to do to be welcoming. Like we’re in a small fraternity, man. This it’s 32 of these jobs on the planet. And so I’ve been at it for a while as you mentioned. And so I just want to be approachable. I want to be welcoming. Um and then we kick the ball off. Hey, you know, Ra said, “Hey, Ra, you know, he always every coach, every time every time we get around Raheem, he does a Mike T impersonation.” Every single time. Hey, is is no better example of that. Like I love Ra. Ra is my brother. I will literally give him the shirt off of my back. But I forget I know Ra when he’s standing on that other sideline and you going to get after. I click back in after. Oh man. Oh, all the best, man. To your family, man. Tell Nick I said hello. How’s the wife? Everybody good? I never forgot I knew you. It just it just is what we do, man. But like the fellowship is real. I want to be a component of it. Um it’s okay to be a component of it. It just feels like the right thing. You had did you have people when when you got in, coach, that did that sort of thing for you that that showed love to you, man. And it was done to me, man, in so many ways. I never forget my first combine. I’m walking through the uh walking through the RCA dome at the time, man, and I run into Shaq Harris and Doug Williams, and they said, “Come on, young fella. You’re going to lunch with us. You can’t talk, but you’re going to lunch with us.” And I did, you know, and Ray Bob, Ray Rhodess, and I sat there at lunch and I just I just soaked it up like like that that fellowship, man. Like I got I got Terry Ribiscy with us here today visiting for a few days. Man, I just got so much love for that generation of coach, man, that came before me that that that trained my ass to be quite honest with you. That you know, we we all need that big bro. Like even where I am today, man. That’s why I enjoy bringing a coach like that around, man, because I just, you know, I got enough people laughing at my jokes. You know what I’m saying? I need somebody to tell me where my slip is showing. Yeah. You know, somebody to put the hand on my shoulder. And I just always have been been open to that. That’s why I always sought wise counsel and assistance, man. Guys like JD and and John Mitchell, man, Richard man. I just love being in the presence of of life wisdom, football wisdom. I see the value in that your longevity. But you know what the Steelers are going to be? Y’all gonna have a badass edge rusher. Y’all gonna have some big boys way back to Seamp and all them boy. Like back when we played, you gonna have some badass front seven and you going to have some guys that can come on that ed. Then you going to have Troy’s and Ryan’s like is does that gain the respect from these coaches? Because coach, I know exactly how your team is going to look every year. The names going to change, the numbers going to change, but I know exactly how the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to look. It’s really fun, man, where when you could draw parallels to the process, like when you looking at one and you’re like, “This the next Lamar Woodley.” Yeah. Right here. You know, you just see the pieces. You remember how you put it together a generation ago. Like we developing a talented young offensive line right now. We’ve invested ones at tackle uh two ones over the last three years. We got a second round center going into a second year. That is a young group, man, that I’m watching grow and grow together. They’re going to be in each other’s weddings. They’re going to be the godfather to each other’s kids. But if you think 15, 16 years ago, I put a group together like Maris Pouncy, David Dcastro, Marcus Gilbert in a very similar way. I can see what these kids can’t see. Like, and that’s why I tell them like, y’all going to be godfather to each other’s kids. Y’all going to be in each other’s weddings, man. Like, we building something here. and it has been done before. And I think sometimes particularly in tough days that that it’s good that to get that history lesson to know that they’re not walking on on unpaved roads that there’s a vision. It’s been done and done before and they’re capable of doing it. I put I put up a graphic, man. I showed them, you know, the nine Pro Bowlos that Pouncy had, the six the six the six Pro Bowlos that the Castro had, the two Pro Bowlos that Voea had. I said, “Now go to work.” Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? And so it’s fun just to kind of provide that perspective and feel that and and to have a business model. Yes. That that’s real and and you believe in. It helps you when you’re shopping for the groceries. Right. Coach, those groceries are to protect a very important person here. Now, I remember sitting in the draft. There’s a video of me at at 21 cuz I wanted y’all to get a quarterback. I could be honest, right? And and y’all didn’t. And I threw a fit. You know what I A lot of Steelers fans were were mad at me. Some agreed with me. And And you don’t care. I don’t coach and I don’t. I don’t. I just want to say that. Yeah. And at the time I was like, “Coach must know Aaron is coming.” I was like, “He has to know this.” And Aaron does become a Pittsburgh Steeler. And I’ve seen so much mutual respect. Uh I remember Aaron sent us home. Uh your arm around my shoulder pad is the last two people that walked off of the field at AT&T Stadium years ago. When you think about that relationship of head coach, quarterback, it’s all important, but it’s also important that you not only respect each other, but you believe in one another. What gives you the belief in Aaron Rogers that he’s the right person to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers back to where they belong, and that’s championship caliber? His why. You know, this dude been doing it 21 years, man. Um, four-time MVP, all of that stuff. Like, like I just wanted to know why. Why does the fire still burn? What is his agenda? Those are some of the conversations that we had in the spring, man. And I just got real comfortable with with his why, man. Like, all he wants to do is win. All he wants to do is have fun within the game. He want to be a a component of the process of development for young players. Like, everything that we talked about through our conversations in the spring, I’m watching him live out right now in this training camp setting. I believed him when he said it, but it’s fun to watch it play out. I think that’s why I’m excited. I think that’s why I was comfortable. And you’re right. I knew something. I knew. Hey, I knew it. Hey, I used to cuz I should be on TV. I should like He has to know. And you know, I have to be very careful about what I say cuz people think I just text and call you all the time and ask things and I don’t, right? So, I was like, he I was like, I You don’t have to. You know me. Yeah. I was like, I know him well enough. He’s the smartest person I know. And I was like, he knows something because he don’t even he wouldn’t move like this and leave the draft this way if he didn’t know. It’s to what Mike’s T doing exactly what Mike T wants to do. That’s my answer every time. Quiet as kept about a week ago. I asked him a question. I said, “If you had three players that you have extreme bias towards that you want to see do well and one player that you kind of secretly rooting for to do well.” Guess who he said at first? Aaron Rogers. Why? So people Aaron Rogers does well. He does well obviously. Yes. But people want to pit RC against Aaron, right? But RC is a truth seeker. Like he’s fair. He’s unbiased. And people might not love it, but he has a job to do. Yeah. And Aaron can tell you because Aaron’s a he’s going to be going he’s a Hall of Famer and all that good stuff. But he can tell you when I’m playing well. Yeah. I I probably won’t say it. Well, when I’m playing bad, I’ll let you know. And that’s that’s that’s the honesty we want from those guys, that transparency and the leadership. You always say, “We’re not going to apologize for the standard, right?” Is that standard? Is that the same? It better be. Like, that’s got to be one of the hills that you’re willing to die on. I think that’s why, you know, we are still a nation, man, are uncomfortable with our present state. Um because these particular recent seasons, man, hadn’t ended in the manner in which we like or accept or embrace. But 2025 is a new year, man. I got some new toys. You know what I mean? And so I see you at stadiums. Why didn’t you draft me, coach? Goodness. Hey, coach, we Hey, we appreciate you as always. T Fail, thank y’all for pivoting with us, man. Love you so much, coach. Hey, it ain’t nothing but love. And you’re right, like he’s a mutual combatant, right? Like like he loves it. He loves being in the eye of it. Like like don’t let him fool you. Like not only does he not mind it, he loves it. He loves it. Loves it because I’m telling you people my secret cuz he got a good mouthpiece. Like like he’s thoughtful. Stuff doesn’t spill out of his mouth. And and then there’s a component of him where if he gets beyond that, he’s really comfortable with that, too. Yeah. You know, and and that that’s a side of him that he don’t mind showing from time to time. In other words, you say he want all the smoke. It’s so funny. I’m like I’m like sometimes I’m like, “No, RC. No. No. Oh, he going there.” Hey. Hey. I told I told him the story, coach, when you called me in that little office, you said, “Hey, man. Don’t throw them rocks at them tanks, man.” He was He was like, “Hey.” He was like, “RC, you got to chill out.” Man, he he wanted he wanted it all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, please. Thank you. We can’t go get no lunches nowhere else. Go, man. We appreciate it, man. Y’all always home here, coach. People still talk about the conversation we had at your house that time. People still come up to me and tell us that like that’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. They love it. Coach, like I’ve had coaches that say, “We made our entire staff like colleges, high schools. We made our entire staff watch that sit down together. Like you know me, sometimes I got an agenda and that was kind of my agenda, man. Like we don’t take enough responsibility as coaches, man. Like there’s so much specialization in our business, man. There’s so many damn coaches and analysts and all of this stuff, man. Like the generation that raised us, man, they coached every damn thing. They took responsibility for everything. You’re on the field, you’re off the field, they they just trained you. Like, can I just I want I want to be a oneman crusade for that. Like, let’s own everything. Let’s raise these dudes. Like, they need it, man. Cuz you don’t realize how many coaches talked about that particular thing, though, when you talked about running from coaching. So many coaches have like had that conversation with me. Blame about what you said. Yeah. Had that conversation. It’s And it’s so many places to hide, man. We got to tell the truth, man. Yeah. The one thing sticks out with me, I think you said it. What was it? Um, don’t live in your fear. Yeah. You have to be that way. You’re damn right. Like it’s hard though. People People don’t want to be laid naked in front of folks. You know what I’m saying? Like they they they don’t want to say cuz like when when you’re coaching the team and you’re being your authentic self now you’re you’re open for whatever. And people so scared of criticism. They so scared to say, “No, this is my decision. This is what I believe and I’m standing on it.” That now they hold themselves back from actually helping a player be better. Yes. Yeah, they like No, it’s your fault. They trying to insulate themselves in case don’t go right. You know what I’m saying? I don’t want to tell you this cuz if it go bad then I told you I’m let you go by yourself. Say a lot of people don’t have the security. They easy they easier to beat. Did you see uh Raw line up on Drake London yesterday? Tell him stop that. Stop that. I I ain’t see it till this morning. Yeah, coach. I’m mad at Drake for doing it to him. He did wrong for that coach. He did wrong. Ra shouldn’t be standing in front of that man either, man. like run up on people. He run up about six people. We was there. That’s what happened. We’ll see y’all there later. Limitless kind of pinning it. I hear the witness it got my people feeling way up on the mission. Got me up knowing me. I got the key on this vision. I can trust trust limit. I hear the witness. Got my people feeling militant. Way I’m feeling got me up on a mission.

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When MIke Tomlin wants to sit down and chop it up, you soak it in and try to take in all his words and wisdom.

In this can’t-miss 2025 training camp special —Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor—make their annual trip to Latrobe for a powerful, wide-ranging sit-down with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, just weeks away from one of the most anticipated seasons in franchise history.

Tomlin pulls back the curtain on what it’s like coaching Aaron Rodgers, now in black and gold and laser-focused at another shot at a Super Bowl. From the moment Rodgers walked into the building, the standard didn’t change—it elevated. Coach T talks about leadership dynamics, the merging of legacies, key pick ups adding star power on both offense and defense and how he’s building a locker room that can support both the present and the future.

It’s a true Sunday service with Coach’s honesty and gems dropped as the guys go deep into what Rodgers still brings at age 41, the lessons learned from past seasons, and why this year may look a little different but rooted in the same core principles. Tomlin also reflects on his longevity in the league, the evolution of his leadership style, and the pressure—and privilege—of chasing greatness in a city that demands it. His love affair with football and what drives him each day is shared and he even reveals some secrets that will make the football world say- ohhh now I get it!

Tap in now for the full conversation with Mike T as the guys peel back the layers of one of the most respected figures in sports. Don’t forget to subscribe, like and comment and follow our daily updates on The Pivot social channels!

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